The Destiny of Nine
by How-I-Became-The-Sea
Summary: Twice have the clans been ravaged by a terrible beast - and it nearly destroyed the clans for good. Now, four new clans reign, and nine cats have been chosen to prevent the attacks from happening a third time. Rated T for safety. AU.
1. Prologue

**Hi, everyone! This is my first Warriors fanfiction on this site. It is an AU.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors. There, I said it.**

* * *

><p>The badger clawed at the walls, desperately and pointlessly trying to get out.<p>

It had been years since it had been trapped in this dark, endless maze of caves. It could have been centuries, even. Eons. It had no sense of the time that had passed; in fact, the days seemed to overlap, since they were filled with nothing but the agonizing struggle to get out of the terrible place and into the sunlight. Actually, all thoughts had left its mind long ago. Except one.

The memory of the beings that had trapped him here, who had left him to live on forever in the darkness of the caves.

Cats.

"Greetings, my friend."

The badger whirled around, searching for the voice. It had been so long since it had heard any voice but his own. His own torture-filled voice, echoing through the tunnels. This voice spoke his language, but it did not sound like a badger's voice.

"I have a deal for you."

There it was again, that calm, stately voice, surely not a badger's voice. But it was in the badger's tongue, and anyone who knew how to speak it was surely a friend.

"Anyone who speak my tongue… friend of mine," said the badger shakily, his voice hoarse from lack of use. "What deal?"

"My name is Tigerstar. I have some… ah… enemies that I need to get rid of. If you would destroy them for me - which will not be too hard, I assure you – I will set you free of these caves."

"You… you set me _free?_" exclaimed the badger. After years of struggle, of horror-filled days and nights, this… Tigerstar person would set him _free?_

"Indeed, I will," said Tigerstar. "I will show you what these enemies look and smell like, so that you will be able to find them."

Suddenly, something appeared in front of the badger.

It was dead. Its small body was covered in thick, black fur, and its green eyes were lifeless. The badger stood over it, wondering if this day had truly come, or if this was just another dream.

"Her name was Hollyleaf," said Tigerstar coolly. "We found her, dead, in these very tunnels. I'm surprised you didn't find her first."

"I kill cats!" yelled the badger. "I kill any cats you want. I kill them all!"

"Good," said Tigerstar, and the wall that the badger was standing next to began to break. It jumped away as the rocks tumbled down, crumbling and crumbling, until the cave was illuminated with bright sunlight. "The cats are near. Go now!"

And the badger ran, screaming, into the sunlight.


	2. Three

**Nettlestripe's POV**

The silence of the morning was unbearable.

The air was hot and heavy with moisture, and Nettlestripe longed to take a swim in the wide river that cut across Ivyclan territory, or at least sit in a patch of shade. But the river was an hour's walk away, and the clearing he was standing in was bare, and the hot, cracked earth underneath his paws offered no plants with which to lie under. The heat was occasionally cut short by a cool breeze, which made the nearby trees dance and whisper together, but the heat only seemed worse when it returned. And, as previously stated, the silence was unbearable.

But then...

"Birchclan, attack!"

Countless warriors crashed out of the bushes, yowling cries of war. Their eyes showed nothing but cold hatred, and the rising sun glared off of their pelts and gave them the impression of glowing, as they charged at the nearly defenseless patrol. Nettlestripe, in the fleeting seconds he had before battle, only hoped that Cloudstar and the re-enforcements would make it in time. In the hurried rush to prepare for the attack, only Nettlestripe and four others had been ready.

He was jolted back into reality when the attackers struck. The warriors looked strong and battle-ready. And for every Ivyclan warrior, Birchclan had two!

The first to attack Nettlestripe was a wiry black and white she cat, her ugly, rotten teeth bared in a snarl. She tried to leap on top of him, but he evaded her by rolling a few tail-lengths to the left. She crashed to the ground, but was soon back up again, more ferocious than ever.

Nettlestripe was distracted by a loud wail of pain. He whirled around and saw Blackriver, the youngest Ivyclan warrior, being chased by a huge Birchclan tom about twice her size. There was a huge gash in her side, and Nettlestripe could tell that she was near to blacking out.

Nettlestripe's anger blazed. Blackriver had just received her warrior name two days ago! With a ferocious yowl, he launched himself at the Birchclan warrior.

Nettlestripe landed on the huge cat's back, and started to claw and bite him as hard as he could. The warrior turned around in surprise, and Blackriver ran to hide behind a bush.

But now Nettlestripe was the one who needed help. The warrior had obviously not thought to roll on his back, squashing Nettlestripe, but instead he ran around, jumping and kicking, trying to get the Ivyclan warrior off of his back. It would have looked extremely funny if everyone hadn't been so close to death.

Nettlestripe, from his perch on the Birchclan warrior's back, saw that the old she-cat that he had just been fighting was running toward the bushes... the bushes that Blackriver was hiding behind! For a moment his eyes widened in terrible fear, but Blackriver was obviously running away, because the she-cat was sprinting towards the Ivyclan camp.

_Ivyclan camp? The cat must be insane!_ He thought. _She'll be attacked by the backup patrol before she even gets there!_ Then he realized that the old warrior had never been into Ivyclan before. She obviously had no idea where she was going, or how much trouble she would be in when she got there.

For a minute, Nettlestripe felt sorry for the old cat. But he soon realized whose fault this was. It was this mangy fox-hearted fool who had attacked Blackriver in the first place! Nettlestripe had opened some deep gashes in the warrior's pelt, but he refused to get off, even if it killed him. He would not have minded so much if Blackriver had been an experienced warrior, but nearly an apprentice? No, this warrior would pay.

But it seemed he would not. A warrior, out of nowhere, charged up and barreled into Nettlestripe. With a small _thud!_ he landed on the hard earth, flat on his back.

The warrior who had knocked him down charged at him again, and he got a clear look at her. She was small, with soft looking brown and white fur. Her eyes were a soft green, but she looked at Nettlestripe with such hatred that he felt that they were claws, digging into his heart.

The next minute, he really felt those claws. She raked his stomach, again and again, and Nettlestripe yowled in pure agony.

"Stay.. away.. from.. my.. MATE!" she screamed between strikes, in a voice that managed to sound velvety, even when she was trying to kill him. Somehow, he felt sorry, learning that the huge cat was her mate. Was it because he was so cold-hearted? Yes, that must have been it.

Just as Nettlestripe felt like he was going to pass out, he heard Cloudstar yowl, "Ivyclan! Attack!" The re-enforcements had come! And before they even had time to yowl out their battle cries, Shadowstar, leader of Birchclan, called out, "Birchclan! Retreat!"

"Blazeheart, let's go," said the huge black and white cat.

"Yeah, Eaglewing," said Blazeheart, "Let's get away from the _slime_ that dared to attack you." The two twined tails and padded away together.

Just before they were out of sight, Blazeheart looked back at me, a sneer on her face. Nettlestripe expected her to make some insulting remark about his clan, or about his skills in battle. But instead, her hurtful expression melted into one of sincere pity, and Nettlestripe felt that this was his apology. And, to his extreme surprise, he actually forgave her.

Sort of.


	3. Five

Petalstorm's POV

"Mother?"

Petalstorm raced through the swarm of retreating cats, but she didn't see her mother's familiar black-and-white pelt. Her heart pounded much to quickly, and she feared that it might explode inside of her. _She can't be dead,_ she thought frantically, _she can't be dead, she just can't be…_

"Petalstorm?"

She whirled around, and a huge weight seemed to lift off of her. There was her mother, a smug expression on her bloody face. Her hind leg was bleeding severely, and she was limping, but she seemed extremely proud of herself.

"Mother! What happened to you? I was worried!"

Her mother kept her smug expression and said nothing.

"Mother?"

That voice was not Petalstorm's. She whirled around again, and this time it was her brother, Mountainclaw. His proud, handsome face was filled with worry. "Petalstorm, what happened to her?"

"You could just ask _me_, ya know," said their mother.

Petalstorm and Mountainclaw exchanged glances. They both knew that their mother was a bit funny in the head. She _was _old enough to be a senior elder, after all, but she refused to retire, even after Blackstar asked her to, saying that she would "rather die heroically in battle, than die of old age in the elder's den."

"Okay, mother," said Petalstorm slowly, "could you tell us what-"

"Well, you see," interrupted her mother, "I was chasing a little Ivyclan squirt back to her camp." Petalstorm rolled her eyes. "Ol' Hawktail never liked a coward," their mother started muttering, "no, no, never liked a little coward."

Petalstorm and Mountainclaw rolled their eyes again. Their mother often went off into muttering, sometimes using her own name instead of "I".

"Yes, mother, but how did you get hurt?" asked Petalstorm.

"Well, you see," Hawktail started again, "I was chasing a little Ivyclan squirt-"

"Mother, you already told us that part!" Petalstorm yelled desperately.

Hawktail gave her a small glare, and continued. "Well, I didn't know it, but she was leading me into a trap, see? I ran through some bushes, and there she was, with a whole bunch of warriors behind 'er. That's where I got this," she motioned towards her leg, "and this," she put a paw to her face. "I scratched some of 'em pretty bad, though." She smiled at this. "Ol' Hawktail can do anythin' she wants, see?" she started muttering again. "Don't need to retire!" She headed off towards the Birchclan camp, still muttering.

Petalstorm and Mountainclaw looked at each other, shrugged, and followed their mother.


	4. Regrets

Blazeheart's POV

_What did I just do?_

Blazeheart, padding back into Birchclan camp, attempted to look normal on the outside, but on the inside she was screaming with a hundred emotions. First of all, she had nearly killed a cat to protect her mate. She supposed that any cat from any clan would do the same, but Eaglewing had fought many battles before. He was a senior warrior, and he had looked like he was doing fine on his own, although he had a habit of forgetting all the best battle moves right when he needed to use them. It had looked pretty funny to see him jumping up and down with that Ivyclan warrior on his back. But that wasn't the point. She had almost killed a cat.

Then, there was the fact that she had felt bad afterwards. It was an Ivyclan warrior, and she had seen worse wounds than the ones she gave him, but she still felt terrible. It wasn't unjust that she had wanted to help her mate. Maybe it was unjust that she had nearly killed him, since there was no chance that he could have killed Eaglewing, but sometimes warriors lose themselves in battle. It just happened sometimes, and it was no big deal. But she had almost killed a cat!

Someone nudged her, and she was back in reality. All around her, cats were going back to their daily lives. Only a few were going to the medicine den, which was a in a small cave in the hill that marked their territory. Beyond it was Doveclan. The two clans had battled for that hill for years, until Blackstar proposed a vote at a gathering. Only DoveClan had voted that the hill was theirs, so it was decided that it belonged to Birchclan. DoveClan had held a grudge ever since. The medicine cat, Dawnflight, seemed to be treating Hawktail. Petalstorm and Mountainclaw were standing close by, a worried expression on their faces. _Why do they always worry so much about their mother? _Blazeheart wondered. _There have been other crazy cats in this clan, and those two never worried about _them!

"Honey, we need to talk." Blazeheart looked around and saw her mother, Dappleflower, standing close by. She groaned. Anytime her mother wanted to talk, it was about something Blazeheart didn't want to do, and she usually ended up doing it. If it was just her mother talking, Blazeheart could usually get what she wanted, but Dappleflower usually brought her mate, Boulderfoot, into the argument. He would make some comment about how all of this fighting would ruin their image, and that he "wouldn't stand for it," and Blazeheart would have to go along with it, because her father was the deputy, and however much she hated whatever they wanted her to do, she did it, because she didn't want to ruin her father's career. Since she had been a lot younger when he said this, she didn't know that her father was very respected, all families fought, and no one would blame her father for what she did. Now she was older, and she knew better. They wouldn't fool her this time.

"What is it this time, mother?" she said, annoyed. Dappleflower gave her a look of disapproval. Blazeheart did the same. They stayed like that for a few seconds, and then Dappleflower said, "Your father is waiting. Let's go."

They padded towards the warriors den, which was hidden in a large clump of bushes on the far side of the camp. On the way, Blazeheart saw her best friend, Jaystrike, taking the largest squirrel out of the fresh kill pile. Blazeheart smirked. Jaystrike had always had a huge appetite. Jaystrike looked her way, saw her, and put the squirrel back, embarrassed. Blazeheart started to laugh.

"Blazeheart, what are you so happy about?" asked Dappleflower.

"Nothing, mother," lied Blazeheart, and tried to compose herself.

They reached the warrior's den and pushed inside. There was Boulderfoot, calm and stately as usual. Blazeheart looked at him in disgust. He never relaxed. It was like he thought he was being watched all the time, and he had to look perfect, or else no one would respect him. Blazeheart didn't respect him, but for an entirely different reason. He was cleaning his long, dark-brown fur. As if it needed any more cleaning.

"What do you want?" Blazeheart asked.

"That's no way to address your father," said Boulderfoot calmly.

"What do you want?" Blazeheart asked again.

Boulderfoot sighed. "Your mother and I heard about what happened today at the battle. We would like to talk to you about the outcome."

"I didn't mean to do it!" Blazeheart exclaimed. "I was just trying to help!"

"Dear, we think it was great that you wanted to help!" said her mother. "We think it proves that you're ready for a real relationship with Eaglewing!"

Blazeheart sighed. For moons, her mother and father had been discussing her "relationship" with Eaglewing. She had never really expressed any emotion towards him, in fact, her parents had come up with the entire idea. They thought she needed a mate, so naturally, they chose one for her without even telling her so, much less asking for her opinion. One day they announced that they were mates, so they were. This had caused the biggest fight ever between Blazeheart and her parents, but of course, they had won. But Blazeheart refused to be near Eaglewing, or even talk to him if she didn't have to.

"Mother, this supposed 'relationship' was entirely your idea. I have never expressed any feelings about Eaglewing, or even had a conversation with him. I would help any warrior in danger, and Eaglewing isn't different than any other warrior. If you mention this 'relationship' to me one more time, I will personally go over to Eaglewing and tell him that I never liked him, even as a friend, and that this whole thing was your idea. In fact, I'll go do that now. Goodbye."

She walked out of the den, her parents yelling behind her. She completely ignored them. She could do whatever she wanted. Nothing they said could stop her anymore.


	5. Memories

**Nettlestripe's POV**

Nettlestripe stumbled back to camp, feeling half dead already. He tripped over a fallen branch, and Blackriver steadied him. She had been helping him walk the entire time.

"Not far now," she grunted.

"Good," said Nettlestripe weakly, fighting the darkness that would be so easy to give in to. _Not far now, _he kept saying to himself. _Then you rest._

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Fine," she said, and for some reason she was smiling uncontrollably. "That old cat chased me a while, but we ran into the backup patrol and we taught her a lesson." She sighed. "I shouldn't have run away. My first battle as a warrior, and I was too afraid to fight."

"It happens," said Nettlestripe, not finding the breath to say anything more. He felt himself losing what control he still had. He suddenly collapsed. There was a cry, but he was already fading away…

_The darkness lifted enough for him to see the horrible scene around him. The all-consuming shadows, the mist that veiled everything, and the eyes_

_staring_

_ from_

_ the_

_ darkness…_

_There was a low wailing from somewhere. A voice he should remember, but there was no strength, no meaning, no time._

_Then he was racing through the forest, trying to reach the voice, the voice, the voices. All those he loved, would love, would ever know. _Stay alive, _something said, _run away, _but he would not. _

_Then he saw them. The beast… the horrible beast… it was destroying… they were all to die, time itself would die…_

"Blaze…" he whispered, and opened his eyes.

He was in the medicine den, he knew that as soon as blinding light had faded and he could see again. He wanted to cry out, to welcome the light, to forget all he had just seen. He tried to leap to his feet, to race out into the sun, but a wave of pain crashed over him and he instantly wished he hadn't.

"DON'T!" yelled a voice, and he was being lowered back to the soft bed. He flopped back down, winced, and looked up.

Blackriver was next to him, looking more worried than he had ever seen her, even at her own assessment. Beside her was the medicine cat, Tansywhisker, looking uninterested as usual. Nettlestripe had used to have a small crush on the pale golden she-cat during his days as a 'paw, actually most of the toms had, and many still did, but Nettlestripe gave up after seeing her completely unsociable attitude. Besides, she was a medicine cat.

"Lie still," said Tansywhisker sternly. "Your wound will open again if you move too much. I wasted a lot of my time making sure it closed in the first place."

Nettlestripe looked down and saw a red, swollen gash covered in a slimy yellow paste. The cut looked a lot less serious now.

"You were having a horrible dream," said Blackriver, quivering like a leaf. "I could hear you moaning for hours. Are you ok?"

"Fine," he said, with what breath he had left.

"SEEDPAW! What are you doing standing around? We have a wounded cat in here!"

Nettlestripe could not lift his head, but he knew that the medicine cat apprentice was standing nearby. And if he knew anything about the apprentice, he was probably shaking more than Blackriver.

"Wh-what do you want me to do?" he said in a small voice.

"Always asking _me _what to do," Tansywhisker sighed. "You should know by now what to do! I had to make the entire poultice by myself, while you were frozen like a trapped rabbit at the sight of the blood! What am I to do with you?"

Seedpaw was not listening, as he had already scampered out of the den like the aforesaid rabbit.

Tansywhisker sighed. "You stay here, and DON'T MOVE. That cat needs a talking-to." She left the den, but called back, "You get out of there too, Blackpaw. Our deputy needs rest."

"It's Black_river_," the black cat mumbled under her breath. She turned to leave, but looked back at Nettlestripe. She seemed to struggle with her mouth for a moment, then she gained control and said, "I'm glad you're ok. I… I couldn't live without you." The last sentence had almost been a sob. She made a noise between a choke and a cough, and fled.

Nettlestripe laid back and closed his eyes, trying not to think about how the sunlight had reflected off the young cat's pelt, giving her the impression of glowing.

"Son."

Nettlestripe took a minute to open his eyes – they seemed to be glued shut – and saw his father standing above him. The pain on his face was almost tangible, but it immediately turned stern, and expression Nettlestripe had become used to seeing on his father's pale white face.

"Father, I'm sorry."

Nettlestripe had no idea what he was supposed to be sorry for, he never had been, but he knew from experience that his father was disappointed in him for some reason, and that immediately repenting for whatever he did would make the lecture shorter.

"You know all the battle strategies. You know _everything_ about what to do in battle. But today… you almost died! Do you know how much I worried? When Tansywhisker wouldn't let me come in, I nearly went insane thinking that the wound was so terrible, she didn't want me to see it! You could have _destroyed_ that cat. You should have! I should have!"

"It's wrong to kill in battle. This is only a scratch."

"_He_ almost killed _you, _son!"

Nettlestripe decided not to mention that it was a she-cat. It would only make it worse.

"It's only a scratch, father!"

"_You almost died. _Do you think I don't know what a fatal wound looks like? Do you think I wouldn't remember the image, after all this time?"

Nettlestripe winced. Her mother had been killed in a battle with DoveClan many, many moons ago. Nettlestripe had just received his apprentice name. It was the worst time he could remember.

"No, father," he said softly. "You would never forget. I will never forget."

His father melted before him, and the powerful tom he had seen for so long became the broken, old soul he had become when he bid his sweet Flowertail goodbye. "You have a duty to your clan, my son. You cannot die. You cannot leave me."

Cloudstar left. Nettlestripe was alone.


	6. Beginnings

**Jaystrike's POV**

Jaystrike knew something was wrong as soon as Blazeheart left the warrior's den.

She had still been giggling about the squirrel when her friend had emerged from the bushes, and was mentally preparing to make a witty comeback to the joke that Blazeheart would surely make, but as she padded over the dry earth and saw the expression on the she-cat's face, it was clear that this would be no time for jokes.

Jaystrike knew this expression all too well from moons past. Her friend's eyes were steel claws, and if you were not destroyed by that, the bright green would pierce into your soul until you felt like cowering in the farthest and safest place you could find. She had seen this many times before, but the most terrifying was when Jaystrike, Jaypaw then, had been attacked by a fox while hunting alone for the first time. Later, she had laughed over the odds of attracting the only fox in the entire clan territory, while hunting alone for _the first time, _but she was terrified to insanity as the fox had closed in on her, growling, its hot, rancid breath just inches away…

And then Blazeheart was there. She had already had her warrior name for a few moons, and had always been quite a bit older than Jaystrike, but they had been fast friends ever since Jaystrike was out of the nursery. Blazeheart, alone and about as vulnerable as the cowering Jaypaw, simply looked the beast in the eye, made her most terrifying face possible, and growled. Then, the most surprising thing happened: the fox lowered its head and began to whimper. Blazheart had picked up Jaypaw and carried her off as fast as one can run with another cat hanging from their jaws. Blazeheart saved Jaypaw that day, and ever since then, though she was made to swear never to talk about it, the young she-cat had been convinced that her friend had special powers, and that those powers had saved her very life.

But she was still afraid of that look.

"What have they said now?" she asked Blazeheart, knowing all about her friend's parents. Blazeheart had always come to Jaystrike to complain and yowl about it, as Jaystrike was the only cat she could trust not to side with her father, or blab across camp about Blazeheart's ungrateful attitude.

Blazeheart turned to Jaystrike, and the young cat actually cowered a little. "Please don't ask me," said Blazeheart softly. "I'll tell you later, when I'm less angry, but if you ask me now it will only make me feel worse for this. Where is Eaglewing?"

Jaystrike wondered if she should tell her. _That's crazy, _she thought, _who can you trust if not your best friend? _But she knew whatever was about to happen was not going to be good. "He's right outside camp, hunting. He said his wounds were fine, and said he'd go get prey for the cats too injured to move, but… what…"

The look in her friend's eyes silenced her. Blazeheart slowly touched Jaystrike's shoulder with her tail-tip, and in her eyes were remorse and guilt. But she whisked her tail away, her eyes were cold again, and she swiftly sped out of camp.

Jaystrike almost did it. She almost followed her. Whatever her friend was about to do, somehow, she had to talk her out of it. She took a slow pawstep, and-

"Don't."

Jaystrike, confused, looked around, and… saw Mountainclaw standing behind her. She didn't know much about him, except that he was Petalstorm's sister… and that Jaystrike had had a huge crush on him ever since her apprentice days. She suddenly felt very warm and looked at her paws. "Wh-what?" she asked, stuttering.

"Whatever she's going to do, she needs to deal with on her own," said Mountainclaw calmly. "I know her well enough to see that whatever she's about to do is important."

Jaystrike felt an uncontrollable stab of jealousy. How did she know Mountainclaw so well? _She _already _had _a mate! Jaystrike knew how irrational she was being, but the cat she had secretly admired for so long was speaking to her for the first time just to say he liked some other cat better! Jaystrike instantly felt ashamed, and tried to forget her entire train of thought.

"Well…" she said, at a sudden loss for words, "She… she's my best friend… and I want to help her-"

"I know," said Mountainclaw, understanding as always. "I see you two together all the time. You two seem to be very close."

Jaystrike's heart thumped. "You… you see us?" she said, suddenly wanting to disappear as soon as she'd said it.

Mountainclaw shifted his paws, and suddenly seemed very interested in a squirrel climbing a tree a few tail-lengths away. "Well… yes… one of you… in particular… listen, I need to go. Check on my mother, you know. She's alone with Petalstorm." Avoiding her astonished gaze, he padded off – very quickly – in the direction of the medicine cat den.

Jaystrike was frozen to the spot. She couldn't think, either. The world moved in slow motion, and as she watched Mountainclaw slowly recede into the den, one thought gave her enough strength to move: _He likes me. He really, really does._

"Would you like to go hunting?" she suddenly asked, so unnecessarily loudly that half the clan must have heard her, and probably did. Jaystrike had no idea where the courage to say that had come from, in fact, she now wished she were still frozen to the spot, because maybe she would never have had a chance to embarrass herself so much.

Mountainclaw stiffened, and it was a few seconds before he turned around, and a few more seconds before he spoke. "I would lo… I would like that. I really would. Er… when?"

"Now," said Jaystrike. Seeing the shock on his face, she added, "Well… we should hunt for the wounded cats… I mean, Eagelewing can't do it all on his own… and…"

"Yes," said Mountainclaw suddenly. "Yes, we'll go now."

And so Jaystrike padded out into the forest to hunt, and all thoughts of Blazeheart left her mind until it was too late.


	7. Endings

**Eaglewing's POV**

_They must be having fun, _thought Eaglewing, as the laughing enimated from the forest around him. _Jaystrike and Mountainclaw. Never thought it'd really happen. Good match, though. That's how mates are supposed to be…._

Eaglewing was hunting a mouse, but his mind was far away, in a world of love and confusion. Blazeheart had saved him. But Blazeheart was kind, and she would've done the same for anyone. But they were mates… Tom's minds weren't made to think about these things.

Just as he pounced on his prey and snapped its neck, her voice was behind him. "I'm sorry."

_Such a beautiful voice… _"I know. But it doesn't change anything, does it?" He didn't turn to look at the pain on her face. This was harder for her than it was for him. She was so kind…. it was best that she didn't know how thoroughly his heart was breaking.

"I'm so sorry. You deserve more than me. I'm a miserable excuse for a cat. I should just go along with my parents' wishes. I'm so selfish. But it wasn't my idea…"

"No," he said, standing. "No, it was mine. It was my idea."

"You told… my parents…"

"That we would be good mates, yes." Eaglewing didn't care about the betrayal in her voice. He would later. He would beat himself up over it later. But now, he was in too much pain to care.

Silence. The cat behind him was so confused, so conflicted. He could sense it.

"You brought this on yourself, then. I never loved-" Her voice cut off with a sob, and she was gone.

Eaglewing tore the mouse apart until nothing was left but the blood-stained leaves. And he laid upon them for a long,


End file.
